Blog Posts by Category: Israel and Palestine

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the US unleashed a wave of protests and demonstrations. In response to the outpouring of dissent, anti-protest bills have been introduced in state legislatures. Many states are drafting bills to increase fines and jail sentences for protesters obstructing traffic (Minnesota, Washington, South Dakota, Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, Iowa), trespassing on infrastructure such as railways and pipelines (Colorado , Oklahoma), wearing masks (Missouri), or refusing to leave an “unlawful protest” (Virginia).

On Feb. 11, President Obama sent Congress a proposed joint resolution to Authorize the Use of Military Force (AUMF), which would authorize and extend military action against ISIS for the next three years. The Syracuse Peace Council calls on Congress to reject this new AUMF, rescind the 2001 AUMF, and stop an “endless” war on the people of the Middle East.

In their coverage of this summer’s Israeli invasion of Gaza, the New York Times and many other mainstream media would have us believe that that bully, Gaza, is hitting poor Israel below the belt. Their narrative ignores key realities:

• Israel, a colonial settler state much like former apartheid South Africa, is the nuclear-armed regional superpower. It has one of the world’s mightiest militaries, thanks in part to three billion dollars in US military aid it receives annually.

Several weeks ago, as I stood with a sign as part of a vigil against the Israeli actions in Gaza, a woman passing by rolled down her window and gave me a huge thumbs-up. Moments later, she had parked her car and came running across the Erie/Genesee triangle where we stood to introduce herself as a Palestinian woman. We embraced and I introduced her to some of the other protesters, including another woman from Palestine. She cried and said, “I didn’t know there were people here that cared about this.”

Last month, we solemnly marked the 10 year anniversary of the preventable war with Iraq. Around the world, millions of people protested this war, a war based on lies and fabricated intelligence. An agonizing decade followed. Over 4,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis died. The effects of the war continue for Iraqis who lost loved ones, who’ve been displaced by chaos, and who suffer from lack of electricity, clean water and jobs. The effects of the war continue for US soldiers who are injured and suffer from PTSD.

As the Israel-Palestine conflict escalates again this week and the world’s airwaves are flooded with images of grieving families holding their dead, we in the United States must once again ask ourselves: Are we a nation of peace or a nation of war?

The Syracuse Peace Council (SPC) opposes all military attacks on civilians - including Israel's air and ground war against Lebanon and Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel.We condemn the invasions of Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. We likewise condemn the occupations -- vigorously resisted -- of those bloodied lands.

The Syracuse Peace Council educates, agitates and organizes for a world where war, violence and exploitation in any form will no longer exist. We are community-based, autonomous and funded by the contributions of our supporters. See the full Statement of Purpose.